The Babe Has Come, The King Is Coming Series

Advent 2019 (Pt. 3)

Text: Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:4-12

This morning we’re returning to our Advent series… and we’re going to be looking once more at Isaiah chapter 9, but also I’m going to have you turn to Luke 2 as well…

And while you’re opening your Bibles up to Isaiah, let me just remind you of what we’ve said so far. First of all, we looked at how this world is in darkness because of sin. Sin has corrupted all of creation. Every aspect. That’s why we have natural disasters, it’s why things break down and wear out. It’s why we have crime and corruption, and violence and perversion. And it’s rampant. And the Bible uses the word “darkness” as a picture of this… And the Bible tells us that sin… this darkness… it’s not only all around us – it’s IN us. Man is born in sin. We are born enemies of God. Our minds, our desires, our thoughts, our will – it’s all corrupted and polluted with sin.

But on the second Sunday of Advent, we talked about light… and how light drives out darkness. And I said to you, that Christmas is kind of like God flipping on the light switch. Because Jesus is the Light of the World. He doesn’t just “bring” light – HE IS LIGHT. When Christ comes, He drives out the darkness, and He drives darkness away. Because light and darkness can’t occupy the same space. So that’s what Christmas is… it’s God sending the Light of the World, INTO the world, in order to drive darkness OUT of the world.

So let’s go ahead and read Isaiah 9:2-7 and I pray that the Lord will speak to you through His Word this morning and that His light will shine upon each one of us today (READ TEXT).

Now Isaiah is writing this between 730 and 750 years before Jesus would be born. He’s a prophet, and he’s speaking from the Lord. And he’s writing to God’s people about a time, when God would intervene in human history in way like He had never done before. So it wasn’t going to be like God bringing light through a pillar of fire during the Exodus… it wasn’t going to be like the light of God’s glory filling the temple. This was going to be completely different. This was going to be the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Adam and Eve in the Garden, after the fall… This was the Seed of the woman who was going to crush the head of the serpent under His feet… this was going to be the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 26:4 when He said, “… in your Offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” It was going to be the fulfillment of the promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:16 where God promised King David that his offspring would have a “throne forever.”

And so Isaiah is reminding God’s people of these promises, and he’s speaking of that, and he’s saying, “God hasn’t forgotten… and it’s going to happen. He’s going to send the promised Messiah… the Seed of the woman… the offspring of Abraham… a King who would rule and reign forever, and of Whose kingdom there would be no end.”

But look at what else Isaiah says… Verse 6 “For to us, a Child is born, to us a Son is given.”

This Messiah is not just going to appear on the scene as a mighty warrior, charging into battle. He’s not like the old gun-fighter who just shows up in town; takes out all the bad guys, and then tips his hat to you as the credits roll up. He’s coming as a baby. Isaiah actually talked about this before in Isaiah 7:14 (READ). So Isaiah was saying that this Savior, this Messiah who was to come, was going to come as a baby – born of a virgin. And of course that’s exactly what happened. Let’s look at our passage from Luke (READ Luke 2:4-12).

Now when you think about it – this is utterly amazing!

The One who is to come… the One who is going to rescue God’s people, and set all things right, and shine His light upon them… He’s going to come as a baby. He’s going to be born as a man.

And make no mistake about it – Isaiah has rescue in mind as he’s writing this… He’s writing this right before the Assyrians are going to come and conquer the Northern Kingdom of Israel. So the people he’s writing to have just a few years before they are defeated, and enslaved.

And if you read through Isaiah and some of the other prophets… they talk about things like this, and basically they say, “It’s going to happen… it’s going to suck… it’s going to be bad. But you’re going to suffer, and you’re going to be conquered, and you’re going to be enslaved, and persecuted, and you’re going to have to endure hard times… but God hasn’t forgotten His promise. God hasn’t forgotten that He is going to send a Savior, who is going to rescue His elect, and redeem them, and deliver them, and drive out the darkness, and make all things new, and right, and as they’re supposed to be.”